January 1, Trump Wears Mask at Ford Plant

This Day in History | 1856

Southern Congressman Preston Brooks savagely beats Northern Senator Charles Sumner in the halls of Congress as tensions rise over the expansion of slavery.

Good morning Middle Americans, 

Well, now we’ve finally seen it. President Trump wore a mask at the Ford auto-turned-ventilator plant and we have the pictures to prove it. But that wasn’t enough to calm down MIchigan’s attorney general, who’s threatening to make Ford pay, literally for letting the president of the United State take his mask off to talk to TV cameras there to capture the moment. The whole thing is classic Trump, picking a fight with rivals, in this case Michigan Gov. Gretchin Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel, both Democrats. And both of them have a better approval rating than the president in their home state. Here’s the reason why this matters; Michigan is a swing state. And it broke badly for Republicans in 2018, and right now – it looks like that could happen again.  Also, while president Trump was in Michigan he vowed the country wouldn’t close down again, if there is a second wave of the conronavirus. 

Also today, we have a story about California doctors who say deaths from suicides outweigh deaths from the virus. 

Finally, there’s been another arrest in the case of Ahmaud Arbery. The man who recorded the video of his death, woke up facing murder charges this morning. 

Read all about it. 

-Fraser Dixon 

Trump Skips Mask for TV Cameras, Defying Ford’s Request and Michigan Law

(Washington Post) – President Donald Trump declined to wear a protective face mask in public Thursday during a visit to a Ford manufacturing plant in Michigan that is turning out ventilators and masks for use in the coronavirus pandemic, despite a request from the carmaker that he wear one and an executive order from the state’s Democratic governor requiring them.

Ford Motor Co. executives wore masks as they led the president on a tour, in accordance with company policy, but Trump said it was “not necessary here.” He suggested the issue is symbolic, but not in the lead-by-example manner his critics say he should view it.

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Related: Michigan AG: Trump ‘is a Petulant Child who Refuses to Follow the Rules’

(The Hill) – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) said President Trump’s decision not to wear a mask at a Ford plant in her state Thursday shows he is a “petulant child who refuses to follow the rules.”

“The president is a petulant child who refuses to follow the rules, and I have to say, this is no joke,” Nessel said during an on-air appearance on CNN on Thursday.

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California Doctors Say They’ve Seen More Deaths from Suicide than Coronavirus Since Lockdowns

(The Washington Examiner) – Doctors in Northern California say they have seen more deaths from suicide than they’ve seen from the coronavirus during the pandemic.

“The numbers are unprecedented,” Dr. Mike deBoisblanc of John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, California, told ABC 7 News about the increase of suicide deaths adding that he’s seen a “year’s worth of suicides” in the last four weeks alone.

DeBoisblanc said he believes it’s time for California officials to end the stay-at-home order and let people back out into their communities.

“Personally, I think it’s time,” he said. “I think, originally, this was put in place to flatten the curve and to make sure hospitals have the resources to take care of COVID patients. We have the current resources to do that, and our other community health is suffering.”

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Man Who Filmed Ahmaud Arbery Video Charged with Murder

(AJC) – William “Roddie” Bryan, who shot the video capturing the final seconds of Ahmaud Arbery’s life, has been arrested and charged with his murder, the GBI announced Thursday.

Bryan, 50, has maintained his innocence. On Monday, his attorney, Kevin Gough, insisted his client had no communication with the McMichaels the day of the shooting. “If there was a lynch mob or posse, Mr. Bryan was unaware of it,” Gough said.

Find out more here